Opuzen

Opuzen, a small town on the left bank of the Neretva river, 12 km upstream from its mouth. Economy is based on farming, growing and processing of vegetables and fruit (citrus fruit, tangerines, figs, etc.) as well as on fishing in the Neretva, its channels and delta lakes. Opuzen is located on the railroad and at the intersection of the main roads Split - Dubrovnik (M2, E65) and the road to Metkovic and Mostar (M17.03, E75).

Opuzen was mentioned in the Middle Ages under the name Posrednica. In the 14th century it was a market-town of the Dubrovnik Republic (burned down in 1472); at the end of the 15th century it was the location of a fortress called Kos; in 1685 the Venetians built another fortress (Fort Opus) on the same location and Opuzen got its name after the tower Fort Opus. Around the fort, near the place where the river Mala Neretva leaves its mother river, Opuzen developed during the centuries. In the place and around it Roman antique findings were discovered. St. Stephen's church was built 1883. It is decorated by two neoclassicistic altars. It was built on the older site of St. Stephen's church from the 18th century.

From the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 19th C. Opuzen was the first political and administrative centre of the Lower Neretva basin. In the 19th C. it lost its importance in favour to the neighbouring Metković. Frequent floods and the traffic isolation, especialy after the "Napoleon's road" was built, slowed down its development. The first elementary school was opened in Opuzen 1798.

Every year, 26th of the July there is a music festival in Opuzen called "The Melodies of the Croatian South".